The Eltare Adventure
by Guardian of Hope
Summary: Antonio and Mikayla spend three weeks on Eltare, where they learn something about themselves and each other. AU Rainbow Brotherhood Universe, Not Canon Samurai Series slash Antonio/Jayden, implied other relationships.
1. Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't own Power Rangers Samurai

A/N: Look, it's a new story for the Not Canon Samurai Series (although I seriously need to rethink that name...) This particular bit is about the time Antonio (and Mikayla) spent on Eltare. Now, I've heard a lot of rumors about the Lady Red schedualed to appear, and this is what I'm going to say. This story is AU. I made up Mikayla because I liked the concept from the Sentai, and since I was ignoring canon anyways, I picked a name I liked. I have no intention of changing Mikayla's name to the name of the Lady Red on the show. I don't think I have anything else to add beyond that except ENJOY!

* * *

It took two hours to fly from Earth to Eltare, and Antonio stayed in the chair that Zhane had pointed to the entire time. He stared at his sneakers for the most part, sneaking glances up at the four older Rangers as they handled the bridge. At one point, he became aware of Andros speaking with Jason on the view screen, but couldn't really pay attention. In vain, he threw up every empathic shield he had to keep from being overwhelmed, but the cold anger seeped into his bones. It was only a supreme effort of will that kept Antonio from hunching over under that weight, especially when he really wanted to just curl up in a ball.

Antonio didn't like anger, between his empathy and his father there had always been a mental struggle not to metaphorically bare his throat in surrender. Especially when he knew that he was in trouble. Knowing that Mikayla, a newly activated Silver Ranger, was possibly dying because he hadn't been looking at the right moment, because he'd let his own anger overcome his good sense made it even worse.

"Antonio," Andros said and Antonio looked up, "we're here."

Antonio slung his bag over his shoulder and followed him into the lift, with Cole following him. Zhane and Merric were waiting for them at the outer hatch with the still unconscious Mikayla on a medical bed. Antonio kept his head bowed, but kept glancing at Mikayla out of the corner of his eye. He caught Zhane looking at him at one point and looked away in shame.

When Antonio's empathic abilities had awakened, Zhane had sat him down and explained about Silver Rangers. How they were unique among Rangers because they were the first color. How a Silver Ranger couldn't use another morpher unless that morpher came to them first. How using a morpher of the wrong color could kill a presumptive Silver because it created a form of Color Withdrawal. Antonio's empathy could show him the color or colors of a Ranger, making it one of his responsibilities to identify presumptive Silvers and protect them. There was no excuse for not noticing Mikayla was Silver, and Antonio was prepared to accept whatever punishment he was given.

They left the ship, Merric and Zhane were whisked off by the Eltarean Silver Ranger while Antonio followed Andros to where the rest of the Eltarean team waited. "Amarwen," Andros said with a bow.

"Andros," the red clad woman replied, "our sorrows that this meeting should begin thusly."

"Thank you," Andros replied, he reached for Antonio's shoulder, "This is Antonio of Earth, Gold Samurai Ranger."

Antonio flinched as he felt Andros's hand rest on his shoulder. "Stop," the purple clad man interrupted, shrugging off the hand of his gold clad teammate. "Back off, Andros. Hesaki, he's an Empath."

Andros's hand vanished and Antonio watched the Purple Ranger warily. "What is it, Dawion?" Amarwen asked.

The Purple Ranger spoke rapidly in a language that Antonio didn't know, eyes focused on Amarwen, who paled and nodded. The other Eltarean Rangers were also nodding, although the Gold Ranger kept looking at Antonio. Antonio put his hands in his pockets and stared at the ground, glancing up at the Eltareans and back down again whenever one of them moved.

"Andros," Amarwen said, "we must speak now. You as well, Cole of Earth. Dawion and Halon will see to Antonio while we converse."

"Of course," Andros said.

Antonio watched Andros and Cole follow Amarwen to a ground vehicle, then the other Rangers dispersed, leaving Antonio with Dawion and the Gold Ranger. If it weren't for the part where he was left facing two strangers, Antonio would have practically cried in relief as Andros and Cole's anger faded away. "I am so sorry," Dawion said, bringing Antonio out of his thoughts. "I can't believe, are you ok? Of course you're not, how could he, does anyone on Earth even have a brain?"

"Dawion," the Gold Ranger interrupted, "breathe." Dawion looked at the other Ranger and Antonio could feel his amusement, even tainted as it was by anguish and frustration. Frowning a little, Antonio tried to strengthen his shields. "I'm Halon," the Gold Ranger added.

"Antonio," Antonio replied. Something was wrong with his shields, the mental walls he had developed to keep from feeling every emotion around him.

"Here," Dawion said, again startling him. The purple ranger stepped closer to him and reached out to press two fingers to Antonio's forehead.

The emotions Antonio had been noticing faded away. "How?" He asked after a moment.

"External protections," Dawion told him, "until we can get you in shielded quarters." He muttered something under his breath. "I'll explain when we get there."

"I thought," Antonio began, and cut himself off under the twin gazes of the Eltarean Rangers.

"You want to be punished?" Halon asked bluntly, "Antonio, I'm no Empath, but at the moment, if we wanted to punish you all we'd have to do is drop you off in a crowd and have Dawion pull his shields. Since you're Gold, you're mine, and I do not punish without hearing the whole story. Now let's go."

Antonio jumped, but followed the two Eltarean Rangers to a waiting speeder. "Once we get this debacle settled," Dawion said, "I'll teach you how to shield better. I can't believe those idiots brought a half-trained Empath with them without his ground."

"I don't understand," Antonio replied as he settled in the back seat.

"Short version is," Dawion said, "Empaths who aren't trained properly use people around them to ground themselves, to keep from being overwhelmed. It's not a bond so much as a," he paused as Halon lifted off and turned the speeder away from the air field, "A touchstone. A person, or people, who calm and steady the Empath. Andros took you off planet so abruptly, and without a ground, your abilities went haywire. Your shields are almost gone and whatever control you had over your projection abilities is rapidly following."

Antonio swallowed, "I am so sorry," he said. He'd learned the hard way that if he wasn't careful he could 'encourage' people to do things.

"It's ok," Dawion replied, "you weren't really projecting much until you saw Andros reach for you."

"Besides, we Rangers have training to keep from being manipulated," Halon added.

Antonio flinched again. "Halon," Dawion said calmly, "you aren't helping." He turned back to Antonio, "Sorry. Halon forgets to think before he speaks sometimes."

"Doesn't everyone?" Antonio replied in a dry tone.

Dawion grinned in delight, then turned as the speeder dipped, "Oh good, we're here," he added. "We could have taken a ground car like the others, but Halon likes flying."

They landed on the roof of a large, three story building and Antonio was lead inside. They took a lift down to the second floor. The lift opened to a lobby that had been tastefully decorated with gold, purple, and black. Antonio would have liked to spend a moment figuring out how the three colors had been used without being garish, but found that he was being led away quickly. "The shielded quarters are here," Dawion said. "You can stay in them, or go out, as you wish, but you don't have to let anyone in that you don't want to. Including Andros, Cole, Merric or Zhane. Since you are under our protection, they can't really do anything until we get you sorted out."

"Ok," Antonio said.

Dawion stopped, "This will be your room. Lon and I are right down there. We don't have anyone else on our floor at the moment."

"Thank you," Antonio said as he opened the door to his room.

"Oh no, Antonio," Dawion replied with a gentle smile, "You don't have to thank me, it's the right thing to do."

Antonio paused, then glanced shyly at the two Rangers, "You can call me Tony," he told them, "if you want to."


	2. History Lesson

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers

A/N: This one is a bit of an info dump/what's gone on before although there is some new stuff. As I may have said before Mikayla and her backstory are HeadCanon, not to be connected to the Canon. Thanks to Tatooed Librarian for the beta yet again!

* * *

Antonio sighed as he walked into the room granted to him by the Eltarean Rangers. Then he stopped, surprised. Given that he'd expected to find his room overwhelmingly golden, what he got was a pure delight. It was like stepping into a New England autumn, there was gold of course, mixed with reds, greens, and browns, rich earth tones that warmed him and made him feel better; from the furniture to the walls, Antonio was reminded of a nice hotel room, welcoming but just a touch impersonal. These were, as Halon and Dawion had said, guest rooms.

"Is everything ok?" Dawion asked.

Antonio turned and smiled, "I'm fine, sir. It's just, not what I expected."

"Let me guess," Halon said, "you were expecting something gold?"

Antonio flushed a little, "I might have."

"May we come in?" Dawion asked.

"Sure, yes," Antonio said and moved away from the door, "I'm sorry." He put his bag down and gestured, "We need to talk about what happened to Mikayla, don't we?"

"Unfortunately," Halon replied, "we do."

"Let's sit down then," Antonio said. "There's some background to all of this you need to know."

"Background?" Halon asked as they settled down in the sitting area of the room.

"How much do you know about the Samurai?" Antonio asked.

"Not much," Halon replied, "although we have found records that one of them came to Eltare. The Yellow Samurai, I believe his name was Ben."

Antonio nodded, "He died here too, from what Emily's family was told." He sighed, "The Samurai have been fighting the Nighloks for eighteen generations now, ever since a Lord of Shiba found Zordon and begged for aid against them. It used to be straightforward, even civilized, the Nighloks would attack, the Samurai would stop them, and that was that. Twenty-eight years ago, that all changed. Someone gave Master Xandred a new plan, and it almost worked. Instead of attacking the Rangers openly, they attacked the Heir of Shiba House, Mikayla and Jayden's father Steven, and his family. Officially, Steven's family was killed in that attack. To ensure the continuation of the line, Steven remarried and Jayden was born. The truth is that Mikayla was saved from the Nighloks and to protect her, Steven's brother-in-law took her into hiding. Jayden was raised to be the next Lord of Shiba House while Mikayla was trained in secret."

"Effective plan," Halon said with a slight nod.

"I met Jayden when we were kids," Antonio continued, "we were best friends and, against Ji's wishes, Jayden told me everything as he understood it. I swore that I would help him fight. After my mom died, Dad moved me to Angel Grove. As a going away present, Jayden gave me one of the Samurai folding Zords as a sign of our promise."

"He gave you a Zord?" Dawion repeated.

"Our Zords are pretty compact outside of battle," Antonio replied, "Octo's about the length of my forearm until I need him. He's one of my best friends."

The two Eltareans exchanged glances and Halon sighed, "Back to your story then, how does any of this explain what happened with Mikayla?"

Antonio stared at the ground, choosing his words, "My dad was never the same after my mother died. He began using mind altering substances and hitting me. It got very bad, very fast. Adam, the Green Zeo Ranger, he was my Sensei in Angel Grove, he was the one who figured it out and rescued me, then became my guardian. Before that happened, Octo was often my only good thing. He was my comfort when I was hurt, even if he couldn't protect me, and he was my promise to Jayden. No matter how bad it got, Octo, and through him, Jayden, kept me going. Octo's presence kept Jayden fresh in my mind and I idolized what our friendship had been. By the time I started studying at the Wind Ninja Academy with the Ninja Storm team, I was in love with this image of Jayden. Even when Cam, the Ninja's Green Samurai Ranger and his grandfather trained me, I never stopped loving Jayden. Getting the Gold morpher and going back, I told myself I wouldn't let anyone know how I felt. After all, it had been fifteen years or more since we'd seen each other and a lot could have changed for Jayden. The fact that he was everything I had imagined, funny, smart, gorgeous, dedicated, loyal, everything." He stopped, and took a deep breath, "When we were kids, Jayden used to make up stories about his big sister Mikayla, how she'd be pretty, and smart, and nice, and, and, and, all these good things. He idolized her."

"What happened?" Halon asked.

"She was a bitch," Antonio replied bluntly. "She waltzed in unannounced, took Jayden's morpher, kicked him out of his room, and basically treated him like a stranger. She didn't even admit that Jayden was her brother."

"Kicked him out of his room?" Dawion repeated.

"Jayden was the decoy," Antonio replied, "he had to convince everyone that he was the Lord of Shiba. Part of that was to use the rooms granted to the Lord of Shiba House. When Mikayla came back, those rooms became hers. Jayden went from the nursery to those rooms, he grew up in them." He clenched his fists, "Mikayla devastated Jayden, and didn't know it and probably didn't even care. See, Jayden can't cry. He was in an accident that damaged his eyes so that they don't produce enough moisture to make tears, and he has to wear contacts. He used to wear glasses. It's very useful to him, helps him hide what he feels when he needs to. I wasn't there when Mikayla showed up; I'd gone home for Christmas." He paused, "It's an Earthian winter holiday that puts a lot of emphasis on family. With Ninja streak, if something happened, I could have been back in fifteen minutes tops. I wanted some space between me and Jayden. I was afraid I was losing my objectivity. When I got back to Shiba House, Jayden was packing."

Antonio couldn't look at the two Eltareans, so he stared, unseeing at a painting on the wall instead. "It was awful. Something in Jayden was broken, or bent almost to the breaking point. I could feel how horrible he felt, how he was shutting down. He couldn't have stayed in Shiba House and since Mikayla had the morpher, it wasn't like Jayden needed to stay. A few months before that, some of the other Rangers and I got thrown into an alternate future. We've had dealings with the Rangers in that timeline before, and we think we've managed to circumvent a lot of the factors leading up to it. While there, I was given two messages, one from my future self, and one from Mike's future self. I'd been warned that something was going to happen, that things were going to go south on us. My future self sent me," Antonio hesitated.

"We heard from Jason about your trip," Halon said, "and the message from your future self."

"The other one, I didn't mention," Antonio admitted, "Because it was, it was just ludicrous that it could ever happen. Mike said, 'When everything goes south, don't abandon us. We didn't know what was going on and we froze.'" Now, Antonio looked Halon full in the eyes, "I would never, ever abandon my team."

"What did you do?" Halon asked.

"I got Jayden out of Shiba House," Antonio replied, "being there, it would have been torture. Then I got him and my parents, I mean, Adam and Tanya, to agree that he needed to be in Angel Grove. It would get him out of Xandred's immediate reach and into the hands of Tanya and Trini. Then I made sure Mike had a way to get in touch with me if he had to. Finally, I confronted Mikayla." Antonio stood up and began to pace, "I'm not sorry that I did what I did then. I'd do it again. I walked in and I punched her. I looked her in the eye and I told her that because of her, I was ashamed of ever wanting to be a Samurai." He stopped pacing and stared at them, "When I touched her, I knew that she was meant to be part of the Samurai Rangers. It was like someone whopped me upside the head and said this is your teammate. Then I knew that she wasn't supposed to be Red. I saw something about her, but I was so angry at her and worried about Jayden and about the team, I wasn't paying attention. I should have realized it was Silver, I should have realized what it meant. I knew that I had to get Jayden's morpher back and figure out what color Mikayla was. That's why I asked Cole and Merric to help me. I thought she might be White, and I was almost positive she wasn't Purple. I never thought she could be Silver."

Antonio turned away from the Rangers. "So, you and Jayden?" Dawion asked hesitantly.

Antonio closed his eyes, "Whatever we were or could have been, I'm pretty certain we'll never have that again." He pulled his morpher out of his pocket. "He probably won't even want me on the team." He turned and put the morpher on the coffee table, "So he doesn't have to see me," he said, "and they can get someone else."


	3. Confrontations

A/N: Yeah, this one took a bit of work. Dawion doesn't actually know Antonio's full story, it's more that Dawion, as an Empath, knows how to abused people 'feel' empathically and recognized that in Antonio. Antonio doesn't actually know that Dawion has realized that part. Also, random Shane is not random. Katya is the Pink Ranger mentioned in the Red Fraternity, she's Shane's best friend off-planet, they astroid race together.

* * *

Antonio shut the door to his bedroom and threw himself onto the bed. He then grunted and wiggled around until he had pulled his morpher out of his pocket. He then lay there, staring at it.

The others had refused to take the morpher. Dawion had been rather vehement about refusing and Halon had been stunned that he'd consider it. Both had insisted he wait and see what Jayden actually said on the matter.

Antonio suspected that Dawion understood that Antonio wanted to leave the team because of what he had done or not done. He also suspected the other Empath thought Jayden would talk him out of his decision.

"Fat chance," Antonio muttered before letting the emotionally exhausting day send him into sleep.

/…\\

"I hope you're happy," Dawion announced as he stalked into the Red Ranger meeting.

"What?" Amarwen asked.

"Andros," Dawion clarified with a glare.

"What about me?" Andros asked.

"Dawion," Halon said as he followed the other Ranger.

Dawion stared at Halon for a moment, and then resumed glaring at Andros. "You dragged a barely trained Empath off planet, away from any person capable of grounding him, and surrounded him with people who are angry; maybe not with him specifically, but angry, frustrated, and irritated." Dawion said, "Did you even think about his past at _any_ point?"

"What are you talking about?" Andros demanded.

"You've spoken of Antonio before," Dawion replied, "You know him. Did the fact that he is not only Empathic, but had been _abused_ figure into your thoughts at any point?"

From the way Andros paled, Dawion suspected it had never occurred to him.

"To reiterate, you dragged a young man who had been abused as a child, who has barely trained empathy, away from any grounding he's established, along with a group of people who would be angry and upset. No wonder he was flinching away from you!"

"Dawion," Halon said sharply, "That's enough." He put an arm around Dawion's shoulders and pulled him back. "I've spoken with Antonio. What happened was not done with malicious intent, despite how Antonio feels about Mikayla. Personally, I would say it was inexperience combined with the fact that he was upset; both personally and because of the fact that his team was upset. He did recognize that she wasn't a red."

"So what do you recommend?" Amarwen asked.

"I'm not taking Antonio's morpher, or Power. He says he'll let Jayden make the decision when Jayden has all the facts. While I'd like to see Antonio stay on Eltare until he is fully and completely trained, I will instead insist that, because he is a key member of the Samurai team and currently active, that he stay here to be trained until Mikayla is prepared to return to Earth."

"Will that be acceptable?" Amarwen asked as she looked at Andros.

"I'd have to ask Zhane," Andros replied, "he's the one who asked for the investigation."

"When you ask," Dawion said, "tell Zhane that Antonio has already indicated that he'll give up his morpher if Jayden decides that's appropriate. In fact, I suspect it would be that Jayden and his teammates would have to convince him to stay."

"He'd leave?" Amarwen said, startled.

"Antonio doesn't feel that he deserves to be a Ranger because he didn't realize Mikayla was a Silver," Dawion replied, "He thinks Jayden will hate him for almost killing his sister. That is what I have sensed from Antonio. Now, I request that a Silver Ranger approach Jayden and the Samurai to explain what happened to Mikayla and Antonio so that when they return to their team, the decision as to what will happen to Antonio will be done swiftly."

"Operation Overdrive will be going back to Earth soon," Andros said, "I believe Tyzonne will be with them." He stood, "If you will all excuse me, I need to speak with Zhane."

/…\\

"How is Mikayla?" Antonio asked as Halon and Dawion arrived at his suite with breakfast a few days later.

"Recovering well," Halon replied, "she'll be waking up later on today in fact."

"They kept her asleep as a precaution," Dawion said, "to allow her body to fully adjust to having the Power. I'm told it can be unsettling to become a fully active Silver."

"Right," Antonio said.

"Operation Overdrive is coming in today," Halon commented, "Mack and Tyzonne want to ask you about what they need to say to Jayden."

Antonio paused in the act of picking up his cup. "Why talk to me?" He asked, "It should be obvious what Jayden and the team needs to know."

"I think it's more that they need an introduction," Dawion said, "given that none of them have actually met your teammates."

"Oh," Antonio replied. He put his cup down and sat back, considering the issue. "It might be best if they lead in with Rose meeting Mia. I'd been trying to secure a Pink meet and greet for Mia but everyone's been off planet or busy. That would get them in the gates easily. Maybe if Shane goes up there with them, they've met Shane and all the other ninjas."

"You have some time to think about it," Dawion said, "after your lessons."

Antonio shook his head and picked up a piece of bread, "Am I at least making progress?" He asked.

"You're doing incredible," Dawion assured him. "You never actually lost your center, so it's been easier than if you'd lost it completely. I would have said months and not weeks if you weren't centered."

"That has to be my ninja training," Antonio said, "meditation, being centered, that's all a big part of it. I could never have mastered some of my Samurai skills if I couldn't center myself."

Someone knocked on the door to Antonio's room and Antonio sighed, "I'll get it," he told the other two, putting his bread on his plate. He hurried to the door and opened it, "Shane?" He said, surprised.

"Hey Tony," Shane said.

"Come in," Antonio stepped back. "What are you doing here? Don't you have classes?"

"We're having a down week since we had the mastery exams last week," Shane replied, pausing as he saw Halon and Dawion. "Rangers."

"Ranger Shane Clark," Dawion said.

"What are you doing here?" Antonio cut in as he shut the door.

"I was sent to check up on you," Shane replied, "and to get the full story. Jason and I have heard several conflicting stories, so I thought I'd head out and see what was actually going on. Besides, Katya and I are supposed to meet up and discuss the racing schedule to see if we can meet up anywhere."

Antonio smiled, "So I'm finally going to meet your favorite alien?"

"She's not actually an alien," Shane said, "but yet, I'll be happy to introduce you."

"I have a question," Dawion said.

"Oh no," Halon muttered.

"Yes?" Shane asked.

"Where were _you_ when Andros was hauling Antonio off Earth?" Dawion asked.

"I trusted Merrick and Cole to handle the prank Antonio was planning," Shane replied, "Since I have a full schedule at the Wind Ninja Academy, I tend to delegate more than you are probably accustomed to, Ranger Dawion. While there was some discussion of having Mikayla removed to Eltare if she proved intractable to the truth, I was unaware that Antonio would be brought along as well. On the specific day of the culmination of Antonio's prank, I was involved in a three day off site training program and unavailable unless in case of a world ending emergency, such as Venjix appearing and attacking the Eastern seaboard."

"Venjix?" Halon asked.

"Rogue artificial intelligence from the year 2022," Antonio said, "defunct post-apocalyptic future adverted by action taken two years ago and further insured by actions taken by my own team. I'll tell you the whole story later."

"For right now," Shane said, "I'd like to know why both of the Samurai auxiliary Rangers are on Eltare for, and I quote, 'the foreseeable future' when their team is in the middle of an escalating war?"

"That one is going to take a while," Antonio said, "why don't you have a seat, drink some of the _nakirata_ while I finish breakfast and we'll sort this all out."


	4. The Lady Awakens

A/N: This particular chapter was a challenge, a fun challenge. Especially the part where I had to work out what Antonio would be doing in this scene based on past episode watching. Thanks Tatooed Librarian, as always!

* * *

Mikayla had always liked silver, both as a metal and as the color that was just so much more than gray. She could remember being in kindergarten and crying when her silver crayon was broken. She had always tried to like red, had surrounded herself with the color she was destined to wear, but secretly, she preferred silver.

When she opened her eyes to find herself practically cocooned by silver, though, she was terrified. This was not supposed to happen. She wasn't sure where she was, but she was certain that something had gone dreadfully wrong. "Lady Mikayla?" The voice was oddly accented, and not an accent she recognized. "She's awake," the voice, male, young, continued.

Mikayla blinked and realized that there was a blanket over her head just as it was pulled down. Standing over her, pulling down the blanket, was a man with silver hair. "Lady Mikayla," he said, "I am Rhomir of Eltare, you are on Eltare."

"What happened," Mikayla asked, trying to sit up. The man caught her shoulder and then helped her lift up.

"I'm not sure," the man said, he looked over his shoulder, "My English isn't good. You are safe."

A door slid open and a very familiar young man skidded into the room, "Mikayla?" Antonio said.

"Antonio," Mikayla replied, "what's going on?"

Antonio glanced at Rhomir, "How is she?"

"Now that she's awake," Rhomir, "we can run the last of the tests, but it appears that she has suffered no ill effects."

"Effects?" Mikayla asked, noticing how relieved Antonio seemed. "What's going on?"

Antonio glanced at her, then back to the other man, "Will you inform Ranger Zhane that she's awake? I'll handle this."

The man bowed, "Of course, Ranger Antonio." He bowed slightly to Mikayla and then walked away.

Antonio watched the door closed, then turned back to Mikayla. "What is going on Antonio?" She demanded again, crossing her arms.

Antonio bit his lip and scuffed his foot, "I don't - how much do you know about Ranger colors and the Power?"

"What do you mean? What does that have to do with anything?" Mikayla asked.

"Everything," Antonio said as he gestured expansively. "Look, I will try to explain this, but some of it's confusing." He ran his hand through his hair, "The short version is that your body had a reaction to you using a red morpher and you nearly died. We brought you to Eltare for healing."

"I don't understand," Mikayla faltered.

Antonio crossed his arms and stared at the floor for a moment, "The Power that makes us Rangers, it only cares about one thing. Either you are a Ranger or you're not. If you aren't a Ranger then the Power won't help you. No morpher will respond to you. How the Power responds to you is based on your personality and your temperament. We relate the different responses to color, red for leader, and yellow for healer and so on, because it's easier. People know what to expect if a Blue Ranger is there to help versus a Gold Ranger. For most Rangers, there's one color that fits, and only one color. Take me, I can use any gold morpher I'm given, but I can't use a blue, a black, or a purple morpher despite having some characteristics of those colors. Sometimes, if two siblings, or a parent and child, are both Rangers, they can use each other's morpher even if the color isn't right. Do you understand so far?"

Mikayla frowned, "Sort of."

Antonio nodded and rubbed the back of his neck, "There is a catch however. There's one color that cannot, even temporarily, accept a second color morpher. For instance, if a yellow ranger tried to use that particular morpher, it won't work, sometimes it responds rather violently. If a Ranger responds to that color and uses the wrong color, unless we have that aforementioned blood bond, and even with the bond, the reaction can be dangerous, even fatal."

Mikayla shifted, she had a feeling she knew where this was going, "What color is that?"

"Silver," Antonio said simply; "The strongest and rarest Ranger color known. That's the color you were born to be."

"You honestly expect me to believe you?" Mikayla asked, "What is this, some ploy to make Jayden the Red Ranger again."

"No!" Antonio said holding his hands up. "No, Mikayla, this isn't about Jayden." He reached out for her, only to falter, "This is about you, about my teammate who is so driven, and so determined, and who secretly admires Mike's creative pranks even though she really shouldn't."

"What?" Mikayla shouted, stunned. She was positive no one knew that. She'd been so careful. She had to maintain a proper distance, had to be the Lady; she couldn't be friends with the other Rangers. If they were killed in battle, she had to be strong enough to keep going until it was finished, and Master Xandred was defeated.

Antonio paled, snatching his hands back quickly, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to." He looked terrified, "I'm an Empath, sometimes I pick up things I shouldn't."

Mikayla eyed him for a long moment while Antonio squirmed, because really, this was his ploy? 'You can't be a Red Ranger because it will kill you?' Did he think she was stupid or something? "I don't believe you," she said finally. "I think you and your friends have kidnapped me so that Jayden can be Red Ranger. I think you did that because you don't care about stopping Master Xandred, you only want what you want. I think you are a self-centered, small minded, rude little boy who should never have been accepted as a Samurai. In fact, I bet you've been lying about your training." Antonio flinched back from every word, and Mikayla felt a little guilty but her anger pushed her on. "You aren't a real Samurai."

"That is enough."

Mikayla jerked back, stunned, as a dark skinned man strode into the room followed by one she recognized. Zhane of KO-35, the Silver Astro Ranger. She studied the other new arrival, tall, black hair, brown skin with a tint that suggested he was from some Pacific Island, wearing black leather with red trim, and he looked furious. Zhane was staring at her oddly, but that expression became concerned when he turned to Antonio, "Are you ok?" He asked, touching Antonio's arm.

Antonio jumped, "I," he began, "yeah." He swallowed and smiled; he looked like his teeth hurt, "I'm fine. I'm fine, really."

"I think Dawion is ready for your lessons," Zhane said, "why don't you go and let us handle this?"

"Ok," Antonio said. "Yeah, ok." He turned and left, leaving Mikayla with two strangers who were clearly angry.

Once the door closed, Zhane sighed, "Mikayla Shiba of Earth. You probably recognize me; I'm Zhane of KO-35, Silver Astro Ranger, and Senior Silver Space Ranger. This is Shane Clark of Earth, Red Wind Ranger and Senior Red Ranger for Earth. While I am sure that you are concerned about what is going on, that is no excuse for speaking that way to anyone, much less someone who probably saved your life."

"Saved my life?" Mikayla repeated skeptically, "He dislikes me; he has since the day we met."

"The two aren't mutually exclusive," Shane Clark snapped. "You should know, you haven't exactly been winning many friends among the Rangers these days."

"I don't see what I do has any bearing on anyone but my team." Mikayla replied.

"You're a Ranger," Shane said, "You're fighting for Earth, that makes what you do my concern. There's a lot you don't know about being a Ranger. Either Zordon didn't teach your ancestor everything back when he gave them the morphers, or the lessons have been lost, but as a general rule, the Senior and Elder Rangers, regardless of whether they're your color, are in charge. Among other things, the right to discipline falls to us. That's why I'm here, because your actions have nearly broken an active Ranger team. I'm willing to make allowances for ignorance, and because Jayden, Ji, and Antonio have explained the circumstances to me that surround your high handed assumptions, but keep in mind this, as your planet's senior red, I can request that Eltare strip you of your Power if I judge your actions are deserving of that response. I can make it so that you will never have a morpher respond to you ever again. Now, do you want to check that attitude and learn something about the other half of your heritage?"

Mikayla stared at him in shock, "Easy Shane," Zhane said. "I thought you said you were going to be diplomatic about this."

Shane glared at him, "That was before I realized that a lot of people have been downplaying Mikayla's actions towards the Samurai. I don't like being lied to, Zhane, especially not when it means that my Rangers are hurting and hiding it from me."

"I think it might be better if you stepped back," Zhane said, "you need to calm down."

Mikayla held her breath as the two Rangers squared off for a long moment. Then Shane looked away, "Fine," he bit out and stomped out of the room.

Zhane watched the door close, then turned to Mikayla, "For the record, Antonio wasn't lying. You're a Silver Ranger. There's nothing wrong with being Silver, in fact, if you accept it, you'll have a lot more fun than Red Rangers ever do."

"You don't understand," Mikayla began.

"No," Zhane said, "I do understand. You aren't the only Ranger to have a huge legacy to live up to. I'll admit, while some of the Rangers from the long lived races have been involved in battles that last for centuries, I've never heard of generations of Rangers fighting the way the Samurai have. That doesn't mean it hasn't happened, it just means, I'm not familiar with a similar occurrence. But having a legacy is something that I can understand better than you think. My mother was from the planet Ilan in the Ilandrian Sector, her family has been a part of the Ilandrian Ranger teams for generations, mostly as green rangers. I'm the first Silver Ranger in the bloodline, and even if there is some question of whether I should be acknowledged in the family because of my father's identity being in question, there are a lot of expectations there. The difference between us is that you seem to be so focused on fulfilling every expectation your family has presented you, and I just want my best friend to quit going on suicide missions alone," he paused, "or at all, and for my wife to not turn me into a frog when I get back from saving my best friend from himself."

Mikayla stared at the Silver Ranger for a long moment, "You really don't understand."

"Yes, I do," Zhane said. "Jayden and Antonio have been filling us in on your legacy. You think that only a Red Ranger can stop Master Xandred. That's not entirely accurate. Antonio can explain it best, if you can manage to not tear strips out of him when he tries." He crossed his arms, "You should be aware of something else. Because of how you were hurt, you'll be given some of the same courtesies as a visiting Ranger, but at the moment, you don't have a morpher. There are some things you need to be made aware of before we Silvers will offer you one. Despite Shane's anger, you're considered one of us. Jayden wants you back on the team, and Jason agreed with him. Antonio has his issues with you, and you'll have to work that out between you, but he won't let anyone speak of you as less than a member of the Samurai team."

Mikayla blinked, not sure what to feel about what Zhane was telling her. She wasn't surprised that she didn't have a morpher, but the rest she wasn't sure what to think. Before she could say anything, the door opened again, and the man from earlier, Rhomir, came in pushing a floating tray. He said something to Zhane in an odd language, and Zhane nodded. "Rhomir has brought you something to eat," he said, "don't worry, it's safe for Humans. I have a few things to take care of, but I'll come back later if you want to start understanding what's going on."

"Ok," Mikayla said. As Rhomir pushed the tray over to her, she wondered if she could understand everything.


	5. Revelations

A/N: And yet another chapter, sorry for the delay, I wanted Speed wrapped up before I tackled this, plus I firmed a few facts about Mikayla's past as well. This chapter references Speed from The Power of Friends. Thanks Tatooed Librarian, as always!

* * *

The only person Mikayla saw after Zhane left was Rhomir, and he was in and out of her room until she fell asleep again. The next time she woke up, she was alone. Rhomir arrived with breakfast shortly after she started moving around, "Ranger Garcia will be here shortly," he said quietly as he left the tray. "He is bringing clothing."

Mikayla watched Rhomir leave, confused, then she turned to eat her breakfast. As she was finishing the oatmeal like concoction Antonio entered, carrying some clothes. "Good morning Mikayla. I brought you some clothes."

Mikayla nodded slightly, "Thank you, Antonio." She took the clothes he offered, "I'll just get dressed then."

"Do you mind if I wait?" Antonio asked.

"Not at all," Mikayla replied and stepped into the bathroom. The clothes proved to be a pair of black pants and an oversized silver shirt. She put them on and studied herself in the mirror, she looked softer, somehow.

Frowning, Mikayla stepped back out to find Antonio pacing uncertainly. He glanced up when she came in and smiled uncertainly, "Are you feeling alright, Mikayla?"

"I feel fine," Mikayla replied, "and you?"

Antonio laughed, "Nervous as hell, to be honest. Listen, I'm sorry this happened, for what it's worth."

Mikayla frowned, "What did you think would happen?"

Antonio bit his lip, "Look, let me take you to your rooms and I'll explain there."

"Lead the way," Mikayla said.

Antonio headed for the door, which slid open as he approached and Mikayla quickly followed. "Sorry about the door," Antonio said, "so many Rangers dart out of here when they still need medical attention that the medics have taken to bio-locking the doors to ensure that they're fully healed. It wasn't anything against you; it was just SOP for the medical staff."

"I see," Mikayla replied.

"Most of the time, Rangers can heal just fine, but when they get thrown out of morph, or after they've retired from being morphers, they get hurt worse than they can heal. When they get that hurt, they tend to act like they're not and escape medical, then they get hurt worse." Antonio said.

"Antonio," Mikayla said, "I'm not upset about the doors, ok? I didn't even realize they were locked until you said something."

"You didn't?" Antonio asked, "I- uh," he stopped walking for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Mikayla asked.

Antonio smiled, "My shields are getting better! I couldn't read you!"

"Ok," Mikayla said slowly.

"No, see, I didn't realize it before, but my shields, what I do to keep from empathically reading everything, they used to be like Swiss cheese, full of holes. The fact that I can right now, at this moment, not feel your emotions means that those shields are stronger than they've been." Antonio bounced on his toes, "Dawion said I was getting better, but I didn't actually believe him."

"And Dawion is?" Mikayla asked.

"My teacher, and the Purple Eltarean Ranger," Antonio said, "He's giving me a crash course in using my Empathy while you're recovering." He started moving again and Mikayla hurried to follow.

"Antonio," Mikayla said, "What's going on with the Rangers? If we're both here, and the Nighloks are so strong, are they going to be ok?"

"Yes," Antonio said firmly, "after we both left, the Lightspeed Rescue Rangers went up to help. Shane told me that Ryan apparently showed up right after we left and managed to get things somewhat settled even if he didn't quite know what was going on, and the rest of the team came up the next day to provide back up. Mike sent me a message last night, they haven't needed Lightspeed's help yet, but it's possible that they will in the future. He also said to say that Mia was happy to finally meet a pink ranger, that Joel needed his head examined, and Jayden was missing both of us and sends his love."

"Mike sent you a message?" Mikayla replied as they entered an elevator.

"I built him a communication device," Antonio said, "with a limited AI so that we could keep updated while figuring out what needed to be done. Mike got Mrs. Rowlings to upgrade GRETA with a link to one of the intergalactic communicators. There's not enough processing power to actually achieve a live link, but we can send emails back and forth."

"Every time you open your mouth, I have new questions," Mikayla said.

"I'm sorry," Antonio replied, "when I was twelve, I was fostered by two Rangers, they got me into one of the Ninja Academies. At the Ninja Academies I met a descendent of a Samurai Clan, and he took me in for training. He's the one who realized I had the Octopus Zord, or Octo and what it meant, and he's the one who started training me to be a Ranger. My whole family and their teammates pretty much adopted me wholesale and dragged me through Ranger training after that. I forget that not everyone had flash cards detailing teams, Rangers, colors, and Zords pushed on them for several years."

"I see," Mikayla said.

Antonio gave her an uncertain smile and gestured, "This is the silver floor of the Eltarean Ranger Compound. They have a whole floor to themselves because a lot of Silver Rangers come here to consult with the Eltarean Silver. There's one other Ranger here right now, her name is Jessie and she's from Aurin. You might see her, you might not, but I'm told she's nice. There isn't a Silver on the current Eltare team, but there are two former Silvers in residence, Arliana and Kartai. They'll handle your Silver specific training, so feel free to ask them anything about your color. I'm one floor down on the lift, the black, gold and purple floor. Yes, I know, but they're rather tasteful in design. There is a gold and a purple ranger on the current team, that's Dawion in purple and Halon in gold. Halon is my sort of but not really senior."

"I can remember that," Mikayla nodded. "Now about what you expected to happen here."

Antonio opened the door to her room, "I guess I expected I would find out you were a black, or a white ranger and then we would spend time proving to you that you belonged in that particular color."

Mikayla studied the room, it was beautifully appointed with cool, grey walls, dark wood floors with white rugs, and white baseboards and crown molding. All in all, for all the cool colors, Mikayla honestly thought she'd never been more comfortable in a room. "How do you expect to prove things?" She asked Antonio as she moved further into the room.

"Mostly by Shiba history," Antonio replied. "Cam, my Samurai sensei, used his Samurai connections to put it together. There have been other instances of a Shiba Lord not using the red morpher. The thing I found interesting, however, was the intervals between Nighlok incursions."

"Intervals?" Mikayla asked. She settled onto one of the dove grey couches that furnished the room and smiled a little as Antonio perched on an arm chair.

"Yes," Antonio replied, "I can show you the data, but the cliff notes are that a Ranger Lord has a longer interval between incursions than a regular Lord. Given that there are several examples, I hypothesize that a Shiba Lord or Lady who was a Ranger but not a primary would have the strength to seal Xandred for good. Given especially that a primary Ranger draws a lot of Symbol power in battle, not just to morph but for weapons and to power the Zords. It's draining. I think that those Red Ranger Lords drained too much and couldn't finish the job. By taking the silver morpher, however, I think that you would combine all the best of your family and finish the war."

Mikayla nodded slightly, "I do want to see your data at some point, Antonio."

"Ok," Antonio replied, he crossed his arms and then uncrossed them, "Look, Mikayla," he said, "I really don't want to apologize for punching you. I don't regret it. You hurt Jayden. But we're teammates, and I hope that we can overcome a rocky beginning and at least tolerate each other enough to trust each other with our lives."

Mikayla blinked, because she didn't know what to say. It wasn't that she had forgotten Antonio's punch that day, but she had expected Antonio to simply ignore it as he had been doing. Finally, she realized that Antonio was waiting for her to say something, "I do regret that," she said carefully, "how I treated Jayden, I mean. I'm just not very good with people in social settings. My uncle, he protected, raised and trained me and he was very gruff and emotionally distant. He died when I was sixteen and away at a boarding school. My aunt and I never got on well either, she married Uncle after he adopted me and I think she blamed me because they never had children. I was raised by emotionally distant people, and the boarding school I went to was very much about emotional control and self reliance. After I left, I went through a bit of a rebellion phase and then Ji sent me the message telling me I was needed."

"You went through a rebellion phase?" Antonio said.

"I did," Mikayla nodded.

"Wow," Antonio said, "the closest Jayden ever got to a rebellion phase was playing with me when we were kids, or giving me the Octozord. After I left, I got the impression that Jayden just focused on the training to the point where he forgot to have fun."

"There's nothing wrong with training," Mikayla said.

"There's nothing wrong with fun either," Antonio replied. "Jayden's a good, no, a great fighter. Jason and Adam both say that, and Adam is a Ninja Water Master. He just doesn't know how to loosen up and relax."

"We are at war," Mikayla began.

"That's when we need the good things the most," Antonio snapped. "We need love, laughter and happiness even at the darkest moments to remind us that we're human, and we're fighting for something worth having. That's why Jayden was proud of Kevin's swimming accomplishments, and why he lets Mia cook even if she's not that good yet. It's why Mike runs his mouth and Emily is so sweet. We need to remember why we're human. It's why I fish as much as I do. Used to be, I could run up to the mountains for a retreat, just escape everyone and everything for a few days. Fishing is as close as I can get right now since we're in the middle of our war." He stood up, "I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean that to come out so harshly. I should probably go."

"Antonio wait," Mikayla said, "It's ok. You're allowed to be frustrated and annoyed sometimes. It's not the end of the world."

A chime rang through the room, loud enough to catch attention, but not so loud as to be deafening. "That would be the doorbell," Antonio said, he gestured to the door, "May I?"

"Go ahead," Mikayla replied.

Antonio smiled a little and hurried over to the door, "Hello?" He said as it opened.

"Antonio!" A familiar voice said, "I guess this is the right room then. Tyzonne and I came to talk with you and Mikayla about the Samurai.

Mikayla turned as Antonio backed up, "Ok," Antonio said, "I guess we should. Come on in, Ronny, Tyzonne."

Mikayla lifted her chin slightly as a knot of uncertainty curled in her gut. This was not going to be easy to explain.

"Ronny, Tyzonne, this is Mikayla Shiba," Antonio began.

Veronica 'Ronny' Robinson stepped into the room and stopped short enough that her blond haired companion ran into her, "Sarah?"


	6. Retrospection

A/N: I tried not to make this yet another recap chapter. Instead, I decided to tie things back into the Brotherhood at the end. Next chapter I'm going to bring in Rocky (and possibly Katya) for reasons. Thanks Tatooed Librarian, as always!

* * *

Antonio looked between Mikayla and Ronny in shock, "What?" He managed, "I mean, what? This is Mikayla Shiba."

"I used to go by Sarah," Mikayla said, "why don't you let them in. I'm sure everyone wants to hear this story."

Antonio stumbled back, "Right, I'm sorry. Hi Tyzonne."

"Hello Antonio," Tyzonne said, "how are you?"

"About as well as can be expected," Antonio replied. "How was your trip?"

"It went well," Tyzonne replied as they settled on one of the couches, "I was happy to see my parents again."

"That's fascinating," Ronny said, "Sarah, Mikayla, whoever, explain."

Mikayla bit her lip and shrugged, "It was a rebellious phase mostly. My uncle died, my aunt couldn't stand me, so I wanted to do something different, and learning to drive was perfect. For the first time in my life, I wasn't the Lady Shiba; I was just this girl, Sarah, who could drive well enough to make a name for herself. I didn't expect getting picked up by VR to mean I was working for a Power Ranger."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Ronny asked, "I mean, maybe not at the start, but after I became a Ranger. Did you trust me?"

Mikayla shook her head, "It wasn't trust, Ronny, it was protection. My family, the Rangers, they sacrificed everything for me, for the hope that I could seal away Master Xandred. If even a hint of my survival reached the wrong people, then it would have been for nothing. I had to be Sarah, not Mikayla. I considered it, but in the end, I couldn't. If Xandred was going to be defeated, Mikayla Shiba had to remain dead to everyone. Besides, if word of my survival had gotten out, I couldn't guarantee that Michele or Victor wouldn't be caught up in the attack too. The Overdrive Rangers, you could all protect yourself, but the VR team didn't have that protection."

Ronny frowned for a moment, and then nodded, "I can understand why you think that way, but Mikayla, once we said no masks, no hidden identities, VR Racing became a target. That's why we moved the team to California. There are more Rangers per square mile in California than there are in any other state in America, much less the world. I had security on the team as soon as it became necessary."

"But the team wasn't the only people I was protecting," Mikayla said leaning forward earnestly, "Three years ago, Mike was fifteen, he couldn't have protected himself if the Nighloks went for him even though he would have tried. As soon as they knew that Jayden wasn't the Lord Shiba, the Nighloks would have been hunting to make sure the team was never formed. Ji told me that there were attacks even with the deception, attacks that my father's Rangers had to stop."

"She's right," Antonio said. "None of us were ready for this three years ago. Mikayla couldn't come back until she was ready, and the Nighloks still attacked earlier than anyone anticipated."

Mikayla stared at him for a moment, as if startled that he had jumped to her defense.

"I can accept that," Ronny said after a moment. "Now, what are we doing at Shiba House anyway?"

Antonio flinched, "You- you have to explain what happened to Mikayla, how I, how I screwed up."

"How you screwed up?" Ronny asked.

"Antonio," Mikayla said.

"No," Antonio said, "this is my fault. I should have known you were a Silver that first day. I should have noticed, and I didn't. You almost died because I let my emotions get the best of me."

"Tony," Ronny said.

Antonio stood up and shook his head, "I'm an Empath, I can tell people's ranger colors. If I hadn't gotten angry, it I hadn't hit Mikayla, I would have seen it. That's a fact." He turned and walked away.

"Where are you going?" Mikayla demanded.

"I have things to do," Antonio replied. "See you later."

TEANCSSTEANCSSTEANCSS

Antonio stared at the pile of electronics he'd scrounged from around the Ranger base. Dawion had given him a long look when Antonio had asked if he could build something, but had handed him off to their blue ranger and the Ranger labs.

Berran, the Blue Ranger, had given him a lab and tools for his use and left him alone, which Antonio was grateful for. There wasn't much else in his life that could distract him from his problems like building something. Even if it was something as simple as a baby robot, Antonio could lose himself in building and programming, and forget that he wasn't back home.

Until the door opened, that is. Antonio looked up, and frowned as the silver haired man stepped into the room. "Forgive me for disturbing you," the man said with a soft smile, "but I was hoping for a moment of your time."

"Ok," Antonio said, putting down the pulse laser.

"I am Kartai of Eltare, once a Silver Eltare Ranger." The man said.

Antonio pressed his hands on his thighs and bowed, "Ranger Kartai."

Kartai waved his hand, "Do not stand on ceremony, young Antonio." He moved over and pressed his hand on the table, "Did you know, I stood right where you are and discovered the means to create a filtered morpher?"

"No," Antonio said, frowning, "no, I didn't." He studied the older Eltarean for a moment, wondering what sort of man had created those morphers. He had always assumed that they had been the work of a minion in SPD, or the minion's overlord. No one had ever told him that a Power Ranger had created those morphers.

"I did," Kartai said, "I created the morphers to help people, Antonio, to do great things. What they have become, what has been done to them, I regret. I often wonder, if I had dreamed of the future my morphers would create, would I have finished the project?" He looked up at Antonio, "My sister was a Law Enforcement Official here on Eltare, and she was my best friend. She was killed in the line of duty, a drunken Ronig became aggressive and her death was considered an accident. So I developed a way to make sure that it would never happen again. Now? My work has caused more problems than it has solved, but I do not regret why I did it." He looked up at Antonio, "Your misadventure is making the rounds, Antonio. You are the only one who blames you for what happened. Everyone makes mistakes, and we can make them for the best reasons possible. Now, you need to fix them, not let your guilt and regret make you abandon everything."

Antonio stared as the former Silver Ranger walked out of the workshop, stunned. He reached blindly for the torch again and turned back to his work. He was way too upset to be focusing right now.


	7. The Man Has Issues

A/N: Sorry/Not sorry. I really don't like this chapter. I just, I really had to fit this stuff in because it's appropriate to the timeline of events such as that is.

* * *

Antonio hummed to himself as he lifted his goggles and regarded his latest creation.

"Sounds like a party in here."

Antonio spun, "Uncle Rocky!"

"Hey Ant-Man," Rocky replied, pulling Antonio into a tight hug.

Antonio closed his eyes and revealed in the hug. "It's good to see you again, why are you here?"

"I came to see you," Rocky said, "Adam couldn't get away, so I said I would check up on you." He stepped back and Antonio took a moment to study his adopted godfather. "I know," Rocky said, touching his hair, "a few more gray hairs than I used to have. I'm still not sure it it's my children or El Dorado."

Antonio chuckled, "You still look like Rocky though, and that's all that matters."

"Hey," Rocky said quietly, "I heard about your dad."

Antonio clenched Rocky's arms for a brief moment, "Rocky, my _dad_ is fine. My father on the other hand," he shrugged, "I'll miss who he was, but I mourned him already."

Rocky stared into his eyes for a long moment, and Antonio wondered what he saw. "If you're sure you are ok."

"I'm working on it," Antonio said, "but it's not because of him."

"You're feeling guilty about Mikayla," Rocky said, "which is stupid."

"Rocky, she almost died because I wasn't paying attention."

Rocky frowned and stepped back, his head tilted as he studied Antonio, "Try looking at it this way, if you hadn't cared enough to find out what her color was then Mikayla could have died. You saved her life, Tony."

"If I hadn't of been so stupid," Antonio began.

"You were smart," Rocky replied, "You did everything you could have. You recognized a problem existed and you asked for help. Most people your age wouldn't have, they would have pretended that they could handle it."

"Well," Antonio began.

He didn't get a chance to finish. The door to his commandeered lab slammed open and Zhane stormed in, "You!" He shouted.

"Zhane, no!" Karone said following him.

Before Antonio could react, Zhane had flung out her hand and purple fire surrounded Zhane, holding him back. "What the hell?" Rocky asked, putting himself between Zhane and Antonio.

"What did I do?" Antonio asked.

"They're dead," Zhane said, and Antonio leaned against the table in shock as he realized that Zhane was crying.

"Who?" Rocky asked, "Who's dead?"

"Cassie, and Phantom," Zhane spat out as he struggled against the magic that held him back.

Antonio shook his head, "No," he whispered.

"It's your fault," Zhane said.

"How?" Rocky asked.

"We should have been there," Zhane said, "If you hadn't decided to play your little games, we would have been there."

Antonio shook his head, "I didn't," he whispered, "I didn't mean."

"Yeah well, it happened and I hope you're happy." Zhane said. "What do you think is going to happen to Phoenix now?"

"It's not Tony's fault," Rocky said, "whatever happened, there's nothing Tony did that caused it."

"Tell that to Elizabeth and David," Zhane spat, "because I don't know how anyone's going to make them understand that Max and Danny aren't coming back either."

Antonio bolted for the second exit to the lab, heading for the refresher down the hall. He barely made it before he was throwing up.

TEATEATEATEA

Mikayla paced her living room, worried. Shane had come by earlier, first apologizing for his temper the last time they'd met and then telling her that Antonio had vanished. Apparently there had been bad news and Antonio had bolted after hearing it.

She was surprised in how oddly kind Shane had been as he'd explained what was going on, and asking her to stay here incase Antonio came looking for her. It had been easy to agree, even though she felt like she should be helping somehow.

The doorbell rang.

Mikayla flew to the door and was delighted to find Antonio standing outside looking miserable. "Antonio!" She said, "Everyone's looking for you."

Antonio flinched, "I, can I hide here for a while?" He asked quietly.

"Ok," Mikayla said, stepping back. "Sure. Can I do anything?"

"No," Antonio said. He stepped past her carefully, by the time she'd closed the door, her teammate was half curled into a ball in the corner.

"What happened?" Mikayla asked, cautiously approaching Antonio.

"I don't want to talk about it," Antonio replied, staring at the floor.

Mikayla knelt down, one hand half extended, "Shane Clark was here earlier," she said, "he told me that some Rangers died?"

"Did he tell you it's my fault?" Antonio asked.

"No," Mikayla said, "he said there was a battle and they were killed in the fighting. Unless you snuck off and were a part of that battle, then how can it be your fault?"

"Because, their teammates were on Earth," Antonio replied, "helping me."

"That doesn't mean it's your fault they died," Mikayla replied.

"If I hadn't of asked Cole and Merrick to help, Danny and Max wouldn't be gone. They have kids." Antonio said. "If we hadn't of needed a ship, Andros, Zhane, Ashley and Karone would have been there to help. Cassie and Ph-phantom wouldn't have died."

"You don't know that," Mikayla said, resting her hand on Antonio's shoulder. "You can't predict the might have beens, Antonio." She blessed Shane for explaining who the dead were and their team affiliations, she thought she could actually help Antonio now.

"If I hadn't of asked, they wouldn't have been separated," Antonio said, now glaring at her.

"By your logic," Mikayla said after a moment, "then Jayden is to blame for our father's death."

"No he's not," Antonio said, "it's not the same."

"Is it? Father died when Xandred came for Jayden, to prevent the next generation from learning the Sealing Symbol. Father set their Yellow, Ben, to protect Jayden. If Jayden hadn't needed to be protected, Ben could have been there to save our father. By your logic, Jayden is to blame for our father's death."

"Jayden was a little kid," Antonio said, "It's not the same."

"And yet," Mikayla said, "I know Jayden blames himself."

"Wait until I see him," Antonio straightened up, "I'll knock some sense into him. Master Xandred's homicidal intentions are not Jayden's fault."

"If Master Xandred's actions not Jayden's fault, then how are these Rangers' deaths your own?" Mikayla countered. She'd had this argument one time too many with her uncle growing up. As long as Antonio was willing to listen, she could convince him that it wasn't his fault.

"Zhane said," Antonio began.

"Zhane is a Silver Ranger who just lost a team mate and a good friend," Mikayla said, "he's grieving and angry. He should never have picked you as a target that was very wrong of him. What happened on that battle field is not your fault." She squeezed Antonio's shoulder, "Now, I should let Shane know you came by here, they are worried about you. Someone named Rocky was really distraught apparently."

"Yeah," Antonio looked away, "that's my adopted godfather."

"Oh?" Mikayla asked, hoping she could find out a little more about her teammate.

"His best friend adopted me, and I really like Rocky. He really understood a lot of things I was having trouble with after my dad…" Antonio hesitated. "Well, my adopted dad said that Rocky was my godfather because I would always save my big questions to ask him."

Mikayla smiled, "I'm glad you have people who care for you, now let me assure them that you're fine."

"Ok," Antonio said. He hugged his knew to his chest, and Mikayla knew that whatever Tony's issues were, they would have a long way to figure them all out.


	8. Bonding Time

A/N: Look, new chapter! I just wanted to write more Rocky or something.

* * *

When Antonio woke up, he was lying on a couch, not curled up in the corner like he remembered. He could also hear two very familiar voices behind him. "He'll be alright, Mikayla," Rocky was saying. "Zhane was an idiot." Antonio sighed a little, even as his various aches and pains began to make themselves known. He was curled up in a ball, and that was never comfortable to come out of, his cramps were going to have cramps. Not to mention he'd completely fallen apart in front of Mikayla.

"I don't understand," Mikayla replied, "it wasn't Antonio's fault."

"No, it wasn't," Rocky agreed. "What happened was no one's fault. I've been talking to people who know, and they were ambushed on a planet that wasn't even in the border regions. They were preparing to go into fortify some systems on the border, but they weren't there yet. The whole thing was supposed to be classified. All it proves is that, yet again, there are spies where there shouldn't be spies. Zhane was just reacting to his pain and he took it out on someone he should not have."

Antonio sat up and looked over the back of the couch, "What's going on?" He asked.

"Ant-man," Rocky said, jumping up from his seat in the eating area, "how are you feeling kid?"

"Horrible," Antonio replied.

"You may have possibly cried yourself to sleep, but don't worry, I won't tell anyone," Rocky said as he leaned over the couch.

"About Zhane," Antonio began.

"Ignore him, he's an idiot," Rocky said. "He was wrong in every single way he could possibly be wrong."

"I'm going to be in trouble aren't I?" Antonio asked.

"What for?" Rocky asked.

"This is going to screw things up between Earth and the Astros, isn't it?" Antonio said.

Rocky shook his head, "Mikayla you might need to pay attention to this too, but Jason and Andros don't actually like each other. The Astros aren't exactly persona non grata on Earth, but they aren't everyone's best friend either. The teams that came after the Astros are somewhat more tolerant of them but those of us who served first? It would not be a stretch to say that we all resent Andros a great deal."

"Because of Zordon," Antonio said quietly.

"Zordon?" Mikayla repeated.

Antonio looked over at Mikayla for a moment, "Remember the 'Great Wizard' that gave the first Lord Shiba the morphers? His name was Zordon, and he was from here, Eltare."

Mikayla nodded as she sat down on one of the armchairs in the living room.

"Andros killed Zordon," Rocky said. "Between his own testimony and the security feeds, we know that it's because Zordon ordered him to. It's just very hard to accept for those of us who served under him. Jason tolerates Andros because he has to, and the Silvers get along marginally well because they're Silvers and that's part of their code, but the rest of us just put up with them. Don't get me wrong, I do actually like TJ, especially given that we have a lot in common, and time does help, but if we chose to limit our interactions with Andros because of what Zhane did, I don't think anyone's going to shed a tear."

"I don't understand," Mikayla said.

"He means," Antonio said, "that if you want to give Zhane the cold shoulder, it's not going to make things any worse for Earth." He shifted around to put his feet on the floor, "I never did understand why Eltare."

"Don't ask," Rocky said, "it'll give you a headache."

"Too late," Antonio said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"I'll get a painkiller," Rocky said, heading for the kitchen.

"I like your godfather," Mikayla said, "he's funny."

Antonio grinned, "That's Rocky. I remember the first time we met, I was trying to do a science experiment in the basement and he came down and helped out. I wanted to build a device to create Pym Particles, you know, to resize stuff, and ever since he's called me Ant-Man."

"Did you know he actually managed to do it?" Rocky said as he came back from the kitchen with a small glass in hand, "Here, Tony, see if this helps."

Antonio knocked the drink back like it was a shot and grimaced, "Taste like cherry Nyquil. Anyways, I only managed the shrink way part, and even then, it doesn't work on living things."

"He only built a shrink ray," Rocky said as he threw himself down on Antonio's couch.

"Uncle Billy helped," Antonio protested.

"I'm not sure I believe you," Mikayla said.

"You run around fighting monsters in spandex, but you can't believe in a shrink ray?" Rocky said, studying Mikayla for a long moment. Mikayla shifted uncomfortably and Rocky laughed, "don't worry, I'm sure you'll learn just how unusual being a Ranger can be soon enough." He bounced to his feet, "I almost forgot, Tony, I brought you stuff."

Antonio smiled as he watched his godfather head back into the kitchen, then glanced over at Mikayla, "I'm sorry," he said.

"No," Mikayla said, "you don't have to be sorry about coming to me. You're my teammate, and you needed me. I was happy to do what I could."

"Still," Antonio said, "I haven't exactly made a positive impression. First, I punch you, then I steal your brother, then I put you in an alien hospital, and finally I cry all over you."

"The only thing I blame you for is stealing Jayden," Mikayla said, "but since you brought him back, I forgive you."

"You stole Jayden?" Rocky asked, "Here, by the way."

Antonio grinned at the large object that landed in his lap, "A guitar? Uncle Rocky, you shouldn't have."

"I heard about what happened to your last one," Rocky said.

Antonio opened the case and pulled out the acoustic guitar eagerly, "It's perfect," he said, putting the case aside.

"You play guitar?" Mikayla said.

"It's a hobby," Antonio agreed as he toyed with the strings. "Aunt Kim taught me the basics years ago. It's a good way to get out my head."

"I also brought this," Rocky said, depositing a bottle and three tumblers on the coffee table. "Dendarian Fire."

"What's Dendarian Fire?" Mikayla asked.

Antonio grinned, "It's a drink, it's really good. Did you only bring one bottle?"

"Maybe," Rocky said as he poured the drinks, "but let's start with this one." He offered a glass to Mikayla, "Just try it, ok?"

Mikayla took the glass and studied it for a moment, "It looks like whiskey," she said.

"Trust me," Antonio said as he took his own drink, "That's not whiskey." He took a drink and shivered a little at the blossom of warmth. "It's better than whiskey."

Mikayla took a drink and gasped, "Oh," she said, "well, it's definitely alcoholic."

"I run a bar," Rocky said, "did you expect me to bring alien Coke?"

"I didn't know you ran a bar," Mikayla said, taking another drink. "This is really good, but I'm not much of a drinker."

Antonio finished his drink and laughed, "Oh Mikayla, I have this sudden urge to make sure that the security cameras are working in here."


	9. Life Continues

A/N: Eh, I had fun writing this. Enjoy! Thanks always to Tatooed Librarian for the beta!

* * *

By the time Shane managed to swing by Mikayla's apartment to check on Antonio, things with Zhane had settled. Given that Shane intended to stay around until Mikayla and Antonio were able to go back to Earth, Andros had felt justified in leaving to deal with the aftermath of the battle. From the little English that Rocky had used, Shane thought that Zordon's Rangers and the Astros were definitely going to be on the outs again, meaning that Shane would have to step up and deal with Andros more, and possibly the other off-planet Reds.

He sighed, but reminded himself that he was prepared to do the work, and reached out to press the door chime. He would have to put off his second mastery again, but he would do it. When you agreed to save the world, you also agreed to keep it safe after your battle was over after all.

The door slid open and Shane blinked at Rocky, "Hi," he said cautiously, "is Mikayla here?"

Rocky grinned, "Yes she is, and so is Tony. Come see this."

Shane followed the older red ranger back into the apartment. Mikayla and Antonio were curled up on the couch together with a blanket covering them. Mikayla had her head on Antonio's shoulder, and his arm was around her shoulders.

It was cute, Shane acknowledged, noting how relaxed Mikayla looked. It was more than cute; actually, Shane thought it might actually fall under that mysterious category of adorable.

"I took pictures," Rocky murmured.

"I thought Antonio was with Jayden," Shane asked after a moment.

"He is," Rocky said, "I wish I had a camcorder, because right before they passed out, they decided that they were in-laws and that made them family."

Shane studied the two of them for a moment, "I bet that made Antonio happy," he said finally.

"It did," Rocky agreed.

Antonio stirred and opened his eyes. He looked at Mikayla with a bemused smile, then up at Shane and Rocky, "Morning," he said.

"Good morning," Rocky replied cheerfully, "did you sleep well?"

"Well enough," Antonio said. He shifted and Mikayla began to stir. "So, am I to presume that all clothes stayed on last night?"

"Yeah, they did," Rocky said, "I've always seen the strip games to be a product of red rangers."

"Aren't you a red ranger?" Shane asked.

Rocky shrugged, "I'm better as a blue ranger, and my wife would smack me so hard if I ever thought of acting like a red ranger."

"Isn't Alia a red ranger?" Antonio asked with a smirk.

"Exactly," Rocky said with a grin of his own.

"Guess we know who wears the pants in that relationship," Shane said, he sat down on one of the chairs and leaned back.

"Um, neither of us because we know our strengths and weaknesses and work as partners as opposed to being a leader and a follower," Rocky said taking his own seat. "I don't need Alia to boss me around, and she doesn't need me to bow submissively to her every whim. A real relationship doesn't work that way, and given that I've been with Alia for fifteen years and counting, I think I know what I'm talking about."

"You can't take a joke?" Shane muttered.

"Depends on the joke," Rocky replied.

Antonio shifted slightly, glancing at the woman using him for a pillow, "She's waking up; we might want to talk about what's going on with the Astros."

"Andros and I agreed that it would be best if Zhane was no longer on Eltare, since they really don't need to be here, and Mikayla isn't ready to leave just yet. They've gone out to pick up TJ and Carlos so they could figure out what's going to happen with Phoenix," Shane said. "I have the time to stay here until all the training is done, and I have a pilot license, so I'll take everyone back to Earth."

"When?" Mikayla asked, sitting up. "Sorry Antonio."

Antonio smiled at her, "It's quite alright, Mika, and you can still call me Tony, that wasn't just the alcohol."

"When are we going back to Earth?" Mikayla asked as she looked at Rocky and Shane.

"End of the week," Shane said, "if Tony doesn't skip any more of his lessons."

"I had a good reason," Antonio objected, "I was doing a friend a favor."

"Still, we need to get back," Mikayla said, "We can't defeat Xandred if we're half way across the galaxy."

Shane nodded and smiled a little, "That's the attitude you need. We wouldn't have made it this far, still free, if we allowed ourselves to think we could be defeated."

Mikayla smiled at him, "I've never been a fan of defeatist thinking myself, besides my uncle would rise from the grave if I ever thought of deserting the team."

"A good man then," Shane said.

"Distant," Mikayla replied, "too aware that I was the Lady Shiba to be more than a distant uncle, more a bodyguard than a family member, he was related to my mother, not my father, so no true symbol power himself, save for what could be learned by anyone. Being that aware, he made me aware of my destiny, but at the same time, he always held back, and so I held back." She stopped and blushed, "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"You're still drunk," Rocky said with a grin, "you talked a lot last night too. You even told us that if we really wanted you and Jayden to be close that we should lock you in a room together with a bottle of whiskey for a full day."

Mikayla looked shocked, "I did not."

"You did," Antonio assured her as he slid away from her, "along with telling us all about your thoughts on Shane." He paused, "No, wait, that was the empathy, sorry." He stood up and headed into the kitchen.

"What about Shane?" Rocky asked.

"Can't tell," Antonio replied, "I shouldn't have said something in the first place. I may learn more secrets from my teammates than I want to, but I'm not sharing them."

Shane glanced at Mikayla, who was a deep red and hugging a pillow. Their eyes met, and then Mikayla looked away. "Come on!" Rocky said.

"Let it go," Shane said, in the tone he used to get first years students to stop fooling around. "Mikayla is entitled to her secrets, and if Antonio feels it part of his duty to keep what he learns a secret, so long as those secrets do no harm, then he is allowed to."

"Aren't you even curious?" Rocky asked him.

"I learned that lesson a very long time ago," Shane replied. He looked up as Antonio came back with two glasses of water, one of which he offered to Mikayla. "In the meantime, Antonio, you might want to consider watching your alcohol intake, at least until you understand how to keep your abilities from getting out of your control."

"Right," Antonio said, he sat down by Mikayla again. "So," he turned to Mikayla, "now that I've managed to learn a few more of your deepest feelings and emotions, I guess we should play twenty questions or something, so you can learn some of my greatest secrets."

"Maybe later," Mikayla said, "we should work on getting back to Earth first." As she sipped her water, her eyes shifted to Shane for a moment and her cheeks turned a light pink.


End file.
